Fishes in trees

Short answer to the question is yes. I take some solace in the notion that none of us ever really own any fishing tackle, we just have temporary custody of it.

Just for the record, a 7 to one reel will have less torque than a 6 something to one reel will have. Just saying . . . . It will have more speed, but less torque. I don't know if the difference is noticeable or not. Back to your question of "Can gears in reels be swapped out?" The answer is a qualified yes. Several years ago I came across several new Curado B reels in a 3.8 to 1 gear ratio. A reel repair guy in Wichita swapped the gears out for 5 to one gears for a pretty reasonable amount of money. I think that you've got to stick with very similar models for that to work though.

I think I mentioned this on an earlier post, but I'll mention it again. Last winter, Cabelas had the Hibdon 800 SX Supercaster on sale for around $40. I got one. It is an interesting design. I fished with it for half a season. It got benched. Too many back lashes. It casts a stream lined practice plug much better than it does any reasonable bass lure. It absolutely stunk for worm/jig fishing, where very often you would have slack/loose line. Too much slack line fishing and you are begging for a back lash on the next cast. It has earned a place in my cat fishing gear, that gets wet once a year or so.

Even back in the day, I was never a big fan of fishing out of canoes. I wouldn't take any more gear in a canoe than I could grab quickly if it turned over. JMO

I've found that the elastic hair band works best for me.

I don' like fiberglass rods for any bass fishing application. Mostly I think that they weigh too much and my wrist/elbow/fore arm start to hurt after a half an hour of so of crank bait fishing. Maybe if I was younger and had finely honed fishing reflexes, I would appreciate the "forgiving" qualities of fiberglass. As I have come to this opinion over the past 10 years, I have talked myself into buying several medium priced fiberglass rods, made for crank bait fishing. I just don't like them. On a positive note, fiberglass crank bait rods make great catfishing rods, when you are using circle hooks. All you have to do is tighten up, no hook setting is involved at all, and if you do get anxious and try to set the hook, well, you aren't going to move the hook that far.

You are talking "finesse" drop shot and not "bubba" drop shot, right? When I am drop shot fishing around cover, I am much more likely to use a "bubba" approach, a decent pitching stick and 20 lb abrazx line and half ounce or so drop shot weights.

I wouldn't worry about it. I don't know about Pennsylvania, but here in Missouri the conservation agents & such have better things to do than to be checking registration on an old jon boat. If you are really paranoid, carry the bill of sale in your glove compartment and should you ever get stopped (highly unlikely), just explain and ask how to proceed. The more important question is how are you going to rig the boat. I would put a trolling motor on it. The biggest 12 volt trolling motor I could find, probably a 55 lb thrust Maxim with variable speed. You will need an alternate source of power. I think that oars are preferable to paddles if you can get them to fit. In a 10' jon boat, you are probably going to get VERY shallow from time to time. An extendable aluminum push pole isn't a bad idea. Back in the day when I fished out of a 10' pond boat, I didn't leave home without the push pole in the boat. On a related subject, back in the day, guys fishing out of a small boat would use a sculling paddle, basically a one-handed paddle that they would use to maneuver the boat similar to how most of us use a trolling motor now. Using a sculling paddle is a real pain, more trouble than it is worth in my opinion. The few guys I know who are good at it tell me that it makes much less noise then a trolling motor and they catch more fish because of it. I don't know about that, seem more like a bull headed approach to doing it "old school" more than anything else.

Back to the subject of US reels. I've got a few of their spinning reels. They work ok. The larger one, a Supercaster 240 with the braid arbor installed is my go to reel for fishing jerk baits. Using 14 lb Fireline and a fluorocarbon leader, I can throw Pointers and similar sized jerk baits as far as I want, and I am mostly immune to wind. That isn't the case with me throwing jerk baits on bait casting equipment. I've got 2 of the smaller 180 size. I've got braid on them and I use them to throw weightless soft plastic stick baits. No complaints on the smaller sized 180 spinning reels. I've got one of the Hibdon 800 SX bait casters. Cabelas had it on sale last Christmas for $40. I used it for half a season and now it is on the bench. Throwing a stream lined practice plug in my back yard, it performed ok. Throwing lures, mostly spinner baits at the lake, not so much. I got a number of back lashes, mostly throwing spinnerbaits. It just became more trouble than it was worth. When it comes to throwing spinner baits, it just can't compare to a Shimano Curado B or D or E model. And it doesn't even start to compare to a Calcutta 200 TEGT, which is my favorite spinner bait reel. I just chalked it up to experience, secure in the knowledge that I have spent $40 on stupider stuff. I wouldn't even lend it to a buddy. I would feel bad, like I had set him up to screw up. I found the reel very "touchy" and not easy to consistently feather with my thumb. I don't have the most educated thumb in the world, but it isn't a tard either. Having dumped all this stuff about the US reel bait caster, I hope yours works OK for you.

As others have said in this thread, everything starts with your seasonal patterns. I think that going into a day with a pre-set plan of what you're going to fish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc is limiting. As the day starts, make your best guess as to what will catch fish. No luck - make your next best guess, and so on. Mind you, having a pre-set plan of what you are going to fish 1st, then next and so forth isn't the same thing as being ready. When I leave the dock in the morning, I have at least 12 different options tied on, ready to go, more if I am fishing by myself. I have the capability of switching presentations nearly instantly. I just don't think that having a set plan of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so forth is a good one - it just seems limiting to me. Let the fish tell you what they want to hit. JMO

The annual Fishing for Freedom event at Truman Lake is scheduled this year for October 12 & 13. I've went the last couple of years as a boater and had a good time. I was just wondering how many other local guys on this forum are going to participate in this event. I'm going to get down there on the Wednesday prior to the event and make it into an extended fishing trip. I don't get to Truman very often, so I am planning to burn up a couple of tanks of gas, just running around the lake, seeing the sights. Maybe my co-angler will actually catch a fish this year.

The YUM Pumpkin'Ed works ok. The BPS Head works ok. I like the Chompers Shaky Pro jigheads in 3/8 and 1/2 oz. If I am fishing around rocks, I like the Larew Biffle head. I'll fish these on 14 to 17 lb fluorocarbon line.

So many different guys have so many different ideas about what is and what ain't a balanced rig it ain't funny. If a rod feels good to you, then it is balanced ok for you. When you go to buy a new rod, take your reel with you and try it on different rods. If the store won't let you do that then go to another store.

The easiest way to deal with this problem is to cure it before it happens. Any jig or spinnerbait that I buy that has an elastic band skirt will get fixed prior to fishing with it. I will mount the bait in my fly tying vise, use a little bit of tin foil to hold the from and back parts of the skirt away, and wire it tight, using some fine wire I got at the jewelry making store. I am sure that there are other places to get thin wire. The wire wraps that come on a loaf of bread work ok also. Other than that I don't know. I have seen skirt making kits in various catalogs, but I don't have one or know how they work. At the fishing tackle stores that I frequent, they have pre-assembled skirts and I have too many of them. Of all the different brands available, I think that the War Eagle replacement skirts come in the neatest colors, with the Terminator replacement skirts a close second. The good thing about the replacement skirts is, while they aren't exactly cheap, they are well made and last a long time. I generally lose the spinnerbait before the replacement skirt wears out.

When I am throwing any reaction bite bait, a white (or kinda whitish) bait is my fall back choice unless I have information to the contrary. Especially in water with a secchi disc reading of 4 feet or less.

Back in the day when I was a bush hippie meat fisherman I fished out of a belly boat quite a bit. You are limited in the amount of gear that you can carry UNLESS you bring another inner tube with a basket strapped into it. You can drag that along behind you and carry plenty of lures, extra rods, beer & water, what have you. It is just an extra trip or two from your car where you unload to the waters edge (and back at the end of the day). I don't fish out of a belly boat anymore.

Any old reel can be improved by a thorough cleaning and re-lubing. Try that first. You live in St. Louis, right? Being on the other side of the state, I seldom get to St. Louis, but when I do I like to go to Paul's Bait & tackle on Chippewa. It is a neat old store with lots of stuff and they are VERY knowledgable about reel repair, maintenance, etc. If I lived in St. Louis, that is where I'd go for answers about old fishing tackle.

I bought several of the BPS version of this rig. Before I even got them wet, it occurred to me that I could make a better one myself. So I did. I used a variety of old sinkers I had laying around. I experimented with different kinds of wire before I settled on using 50 lb Fluorocarbon leader material to hang the weights on. Mine turn out a little longer than the factory styles, maybe an inch or more longer. Most of my creations so far are around a half ounce, + or - a few grams. The tackle stores and BPS and Cabelas here in KC are pretty limited in tackle making gear. I was having trouble finding sleeves to crimp the fluorocarbon. Finally ended up a Michaels, a crafting store that had a jewelry making section. They have all kinds of fine wire crimping sleeves, generally at reasonable prices it seemed to me. The only other variation that I do that is different from the others I have seen is that I am using a regular gap Gamakatsu hooks rather than the wide gap ones I commonly see. I get to go fishing maybe once per week, I missed a couple of weeks this summer. Mid July through August I caught 17 keepers ( 15" & up) and probably another 50 or so slot fish (12" to 15"). All the keepers were 10' to16' deep, on a shelf or within a foot or so of the deep edge of the weed line, close to but not below the thermocline. For the most part for where I fish (medium sized, pressured MO conservation lakes), this rig has replaced the TX rig.

There is a reason that the pistol grip rods fell out of favor, for the most part. For me, I just called them "wrist killers" I guess that there is a time & place for pistol grips rods, but for me it isn't very often.

No one is born knowing how to back up a trailer. It takes some practice. If it was my money, I would save it and learn how to back up the trailer. Sooner or later you are going to have to learn how to do it.

I've found a new bubba drop shot bait. The 5" Berkley Powerbait jerk shad. Start with the Arkansas Shiner color ( which is basically white with a black back). Then with Spike-it dye markers, you can turn that bait into any bait fish color you like. A little chartruese shading, you get a nearly perfect shad color. Orange & chartreuse gets you a good blue gill imitation. I've found these baits hard to come by in my neighborhood, so I finally had to special order some from my local tackle store. 6 bags seems like it will be a seasons supply. Just thought I would share a new to me bait that is working.

What would you use the most? J. Franco mentioned above some of the differences between a spinner bait and a crank rod. A dedicated spinnerbait rod isn't a bad idea. A dedicated pitching rod isn't a bad idea. Take the flip/pitch rod you've got and turn it into a bubba drop shot rod. I don't know about you, but I catch fish on my bubba drop shot rig nearly every time out, moreso on the tough fishing days as opposed to the great fishing days.

If you can't go to Home Depot or Lowe's and find enough parts to put together a pond boat rudder, you need to turn in your Macgyver card.

I'd agree with J Franco in that I think that the Sammy is the easiest topwater to walk. I throw mine on a fairly whippy 6' bait casting rod and mono, anywhere from 12 to 20 lb. I think I'm using 17 right now.

Joining a local club is one way to get started in tournaments. I would suggest that a better way would to be to join a regional circuit like the Walmart BFL. Since you don't have a boat, you will go as a co-angler to start either way. Aside from a slightly higher entry fee, your expenses for a club tournament versus a BFL tournament are roughly the same. The potential payouts from fishing a BFL are much higher than fishing a club tournament. Some people will say, just to get your feet wet, you should start with a local club. I say, if you think you got skills, go ahead and get into a league that has a steeper learning curve, but a far greater potential payout. From where you live in NW Arkansas, you'd have a choice of Arkie, Okie or the Ozark divisions. I think that you would learn more quicker fishing BFL or some similar circuit rather than starting at the club level. JMO